A Spring Township man has rejected an offer that would have allowed him to avoid a possible life-in-prison sentence in the fatal shooting of his wife after an argument in their home.

William R. Landis Jr., 53, is charged with first-degree murder, but declined to plead guilty to a lesser charge carrying a lighter sentence, Berks County Assistant District Attorney Jonathan H. Kurland said Friday.

Kurland did not disclose specifics of the offer.

Landis' lawyer, Fortunato N. Perri Jr. of Philadelphia, said Landis does not want to plead guilty in the Oct. 28, 2009, killing of his wife, Sharon D., 53.

Landis is scheduled for trial in April.

The shooting sparked an eight-hour standoff between Landis and police at the home in the 500 block of Arrowhead Trail. The standoff will be the subject of a separate trial.

Meanwhile, Judge Jeffrey K. Sprecher delayed a decision on a request from William J. Brennan, Landis' other Philadelphia lawyer, to dismiss the case because prosecutors did not bring it to trial within 365 days as required by law.

Brennan said that rather than proceed to trial, prosecutors filed an unnecessary appeal in 2010 of Sprecher's order dismissing a charge of aggravated assault against a police officer.

Police said Landis threatened them with two pistols and a large knife and also threatened to kill himself.

Kurland countered that when an appeal is filed, the law allows more time before the case proceeds to trial.

Sprecher said he did not understand why the appeal was filed.

"You could have proceeded with the murder charge, but you did not," Sprecher said. "If you didn't appeal it, we could have gone to trial."

Brennan said prosecutors did not need that charge to go ahead with the murder trial.

If the case goes to trial, Perri said, he may present a defense that Landis has a diminished mental capacity based on a report from Dr. Larry Rotenberg, a Reading Hospital forensic psychiatrist. The report concluded Landis could not have intended to kill his wife because of his mental capacity.

Perri said that would reduce the charge to less than first-degree murder.

Sprecher also said he would review a request from prosecutors to present evidence to prove the slaying was premeditated because Sharon Landis told a friend in May 2009 that her husband had been throwing objects at her and she was planning to call police.

The friend said William Landis then told his wife to "call the morgue."

The friend told prosecutors that Sharon Landis was afraid of her husband.